Liquid filling machine



July 20, 1943. I 5 s. MINARD 2,324,795

' LiQUI-D FILLING ucnnm Filed'J'an. 31,1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 EV ERE TTS. MINARD m-mvrox. I

ATTORNEY E. s. MINARD LIQUID FILLING MACHINE July 20, 1943.

Filed Jan. 31, 1941 5 Sheets- Shut 2 FIG. 4

.INVENTOR. EVERETT s. MINARD BY ATToRN Y July 20, 1943. s. MINARD.2,324,195

LIQUID FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 31, 1941 5--Sheota-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.EVERETT S. MINARD BY 7 ATTo Rue x I July 20, 5. MINAQU LIQUID FILLINGmourns Filed Jan. 31, 1941 5 Sheets'-Sheet 4.

4 I M: 23 'b 3 O 6 I 45 m i 44 Fl G. a

INVENTOR.

EVERETT S. MINARD zigzag ATTORNEY y 1943-? E. s. MINARD 2,324,795

LI UID FILLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 31, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.EVERETT S. MINARD ATTOR EY Patented July 20, 1943 LIQUID FILLING MACHINEEverett S. Minard, San FranciscoQCalif assignor, by mesne assignments,to The Pfaudler (10., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New, YorkApplication January 31, 1941, Serial No. 376,762

13 Claims.

Ihe present invention relates to improvements in liquid fillingmachines, .and its principal object is to provide a machine for fillingcans or similar containers with milk, or fruit juices, or other liquids,in such a manner that the air is first removed from the container, andthe liquid is made to be fed into the'vacuum thus created without beingagitated and without coming in contact with any air during the entirefeeding operation.

More particularly, it is proposed to provide a plug which is engagedwith the container so as to entirely fill the same and to expel the airtherefrom and to provide means in connection with the plug for feedingthe liquid into the container as the plug is slowly Withdrawn therefrom.

It is further proposed to provide special liquidfeeding and air-ventingdevices in connection with the plug and operating means for'the samewhereby the air-expelling and liquid-filling operations may be carriedout in properly timed relation.

Another object of my invention is to provide sealing means engageable bythe container during the air-exhausting and liquid-filling operations.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a machine in which aplurality of liquidfilling units are arrangedv to operate in continuoussuccession, so that a plurality of containers may be accommodated in onemachine and pass therethrough to successively go through the differentoperations involved.

Further objects and advantages of my inven tion will appear as thespecification proceeds, and the novel features thereof will be fully setforth inv the claims hereto appended.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a vertical central section through my machine;

Figure 2, a vertical section through a plug unit substantially as seenfrom line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3, a fragmentary vertical section illustrating a liquid-valveopening means, and taken along line 33 of Figure 8;

Figure 4, a similar section illustrating the construction of avent-valve operating means, and taken along line 4-4 of Figure 8;

'Figure 5, a fragmentary top plan view of my machine;

Figures 6 and 7, isometric views of two lock members shown in plan inFigure Figure 8, a fragmentary top plan View with that various changesor modifications maybe made within the scope of the claims heretoattached, without departing from the spirit of the inventionx Referringto the drawings in detail, and particularly to Figure 1, my machinecomprises in its general organization, a base I, a column 1 rotatablethereon, a lower, lifter-supporting frame 9 carried by the lower end ofthe column and an upper frame 18 carried by the upper part of the columnand supporting plugs [9 in alined relation with the lifters I I of thelower frame.

The base I is providedto-support the machine and has suitably spacedfeet 2 to give the machine the desired elevation. The base is formedwith a central hub 3 which rigidly supports a vertical shaft 4. i

A cylindrical section 5' is secured on the outer margin of the base bymeans of bolts 5' and serves as a closure for the lower working partsofthe machine, as well as a supporting means for the endless cam track 6,the outline of which is indicated in the'diagrammatic showing 10f Figure11.

The column 1 fits revolvably over theupper end of shaft 4, and it issupported by the ball bearing 8 resting on the hub 3. The lower end ofthe column is widened into an apron I which surrounds the hub 3 andcarries the lifter-supporting frame 9 consisting of upper and lowerplates 9 and 9" interconnected by bracing members Ill. The lower plate9" has a ring gear Ill bolted to the margin thereof and any suitablesource of power maybe used to impart rotary motion to the column Ian'dthe frame structure supported thereby through the ring gear l0.

An annularly arranged series of lifters II are mounted on the frame 9 atthe upper end of shafts l2 which have guide bearings l3 in the upperandlower plates of the frame 9. A pin HI isrigidly attached to eachlifter II and freely slides through a hole in the upper frame plate 9'to keep its respective lifter shaft [2 from rotat ing. Each shaft l2carries a bracket l5 rigidly secured to the shaft, and the brackets arepro 9 rotates.

vided with rollers I6 riding on the cam track 6 for raising and loweringthe lifters as the frame A semi-circular centering-shoe I1 is bolted toeach lifter plate to allow a can or container to be properly positionedthereon.

The upper frame It! is removably mounted on top of the column I by meansof bolts I8, In the marginal portion of this frame are mounted anannular series of container-filling members or plugs H] which correspondin position and number to the lifters l8, and are disposed, one aboveeach lifter and centered with respect to the lifter and the container20, carried thereby.

While in the drawings, the machine is illustrated as having eightfilling units, each comprising a lifter and a cooperating plug, itshould be understood that the number of units may be readily changedwithout affecting the spirit of the invention.

The container-filling members or plugs I9 are cylindrical in form, andare of a diameter corresponding to the inside diameter of the container2|], so as to have a sliding fit therewith. It should be understood ofcourse, that the form of the plug l9 should correspond to that of thecontainer 20, no matter what the shape of the latter may be.

On the exterior of the plug, and slidably mounted thereon, is a ring orsleeve 2|, held in adjustable position by means of studs 22 which fitloosely in holes 22 in the frame I8, and have adjusting nuts 23 on theirupper ends. A rubber or resilient ring 24 is placed in the ring 2| at apoint where it will seal the top opening of the container 20 when thelatter is raised against it.

The inner edge of the rubber ring 24 fits closely against the surface ofthe plug 9 to form an airtight joint with the plug, but to permitvertical sliding motion of the ring 2|. Downward pressure is brought tobear on the ring 2| through a pressure arm 21 pivoted in the column, asat 21', and urged downward by a spring 25 encircling a guide bar 26.

The pressure arms, one of which is shown in detail in Figure 9, haveforked free ends straddling the rings 2| and bearing on rollers 28 tourge the rings downwardly, the downward movement being limited by theeffective length of the studs 22 as adjusted by the nuts 23.

A liquid-supply line 29 extends toward the frame Hi from above and inline with the shaft 4, and terminates into a turning union 3!] supportedcentrally on the frame la. The turning union has a number of branchlines or feeders 3| extending toward the different plugs and connectingwith vertical passages 32 within the plugs. These passages extenddownwardly to the bottom ends of the plugs and terminate in valve seats33 (see Figure 2) A valve stem 34 extends vertically through eachpassage 32, and has a head 35 adapted to seat on the valve seat 33 forclosing the passage. Where the valve stem 34 leaves the plug at theupper end, a stufling box 36 is, provided to prevent liquid from leakingout along the stem.

Adjacent the liquid passage 32, each plug is provided with an air ventpassage 31 running parallel to the former passage and formed with avalve seat 38' at its lower extremity, and a The two valve stems 34 and40 are operated as follows:

The valve stem 34, as illustrated in Figure 3, has a bracket 42 clampedthereto so as to project laterally in a substantially radial directionand terminates in a downwardly offset roller 4|, the bracket beingguided vertically by means of a pin 43. Each of the valve stems isprovided with the roller 4|, and, as indicated in the diagrammatic viewof Figure 11, as each roller 4| proceeds in its circular path, itstrikes, at a given point, corresponding to the highest point of the camtrack 6, a cam face 55 which lifts the roller and thereby raises thevalve stem 34 and the valve 35 for opening the passage 32.

Each valve stem 43 is provided with a similar bracket 45 and an upwardlyoff-set roller 44, which cooperates with a fixed cam 51 in lifting thevalve stem 40 when its respective plug reaches a pre-determined point inits circular path. (See Figures 4 and 11.)

For holding the two valve stems and their respective valves in raisedposition, I provide the following mechanism:

A top plate 41 is rigidly secured over the frame l8 by means of bolts4'! to provide a ring overlying the annular series of plugs IS). Thevalve stems 34 and 43 project through this top plate and have washers 53secured to the top ends thereof in spaced relation to the plate 4?.Valve stem locking members 48 and 49 (see Figures 5, 6 and 7), arepivoted to the plate 47 by means of screws 59 for swinging movement in ahorizontal plane toward and away from the valve stems 34 and 45.

Springs 5| tend to pull the valve locks toward the stems 34 and 43. Thevalve locks are provided with vertical studs 52 which are drawnunderneath the washers 53 by the springs 5| when the stems are raisedand thereby hold the same in raised position.

The two valve stem locks 48 and 49 have offsets 48' and projectingradially beyond the periphery of the plate 4'! and adapted to strikesuitable stops 54 and 55 (indicated in Figure 11), whereby the locks areretracted and are made to release their respective valve stems 34 and40, which immediately return to valve closing position under theinfluence of springs 45 interposed between the top plate 4! and thebrackets 42 and 45.

The respective off-sets in the brackets 42 and 45 are provided to bringall rollers 4| into one plane adapted for cooperation with cam 55, andall rollers 44 into another plane adapted for cooperation with cam El.Similarly the off-sets in the valve locks 48 and 49 serve to bring allthe off-sets 48 into the plane of stops 56 and all the off-sets 49 intothe plane of the stop 54. (See Figure 11.)

The operation of my machine may be described as follows:

Referring particularly to the diagrammatic view of Figure 11 which showsthe progress of an individual can in eight different positions,inclicated by letters A to H. The roller I3 is shown as travelling onthe cam 6 to rise rather quickly to its highest point in a quarter of arevolution; to descend more slowly to its lowest level in onehalf of arevolution, and to proceed on the same level for a quarter of arevolution. The lifter ll, of course, follows the same movement.

In the position shown at A, the can 20 resting on the lifter II, isbelow the plug I9 and spaced therefrom, The valve 35 in the liquidpassage the plug are closed.

32, is closed, and the'valve' 38 in the air vent passage 3! is open, thevalve stem 49 being held :1 raised position by the valve lock 49.

As the unit proceeds to point B, the lifter raises the can and the upperedge thereof engages with the resilient ring 24 of the sleeve 2| forsealing the can, the sealing ring being raised with the can. Theposition of the valves remains unchanged. As the roller l6 reaches thepoint C, the can is fully telescoped over the plug, and at that time,the valve lock 49 strikes the stop 54, releasing the valve stem 40 whichcloses the air vent valve at 38.

After this the downward travel of the roller l6 begins. At the beginningof the downward travel, the roller 4| strikes the cam 55, and opens thevalve 35. Since all the air has been expelled during the upward travelof the can, and the valve 38 is closed at the end of the upward traveland. the upper end of the can is firmly sealed against the plug, thedownward travel of the can will create an almost perfect vacuumunderneath the plug and the liquid runs into the evacuated space beneaththe plug as fast as space is made available by the progressive descentof the can. It will be noted that the descent is made comparativelyslowly, occupying substantiallya full one-half of the circle.

Just before the roller l6 reaches the point G on the track andsubstantially coinciding with the moment when the seal is broken betweenthe can and the resilient ring 24, the end of the valve lock 48 strikesthe stop 56, releasing the lock and causing valve 35 to close.

When the can reaches the position of point G, r

it is filled to a desired level and both valves in It may now be removedand a new can substituted. As the roller [6 reaches point H, the roller44 reaches the cam 51 and operates the valve stem 40 to open the airvent valve preparatory to engagement with a new can.

, The extent to which the container is to be filled can be veryaccurately adjusted by a proper setting of the nuts 23 on the studs 22.The container fills as fast as it is withdrawn from theplug l9, and thevalve 35 is made to close when the container loses contact with therubber ring 24. The higher the sleeve 2| carrying the ring 24 is raisedby adjustment of the nuts 23,

the shorter will be the feeding stroke, and the lower the level to whichthe container is filled. The operator may thus secure a uniform level inall the cans, allowing whatever space above theliquid is required forfinishing operations.

As has been stated, the upper frame I8 is removable. Since the plugs aremade to have an exact fit with the containers to be filled, it isapparent that they have to bechanged for different sizes of containers.This change may be easily effected by taking off the entire frame [8 asa unit, and by substituting another one,

The centering shoes ll, of course, would have to be changed accordinglyfor the proper positioning of different sizes of containers. While mymachine has been shown and described as designed for the filling of theconventional cylindrical can, it is apparent that the principles of myinvention could as easily be applied to cans or containers of differentshapes. Where containers are to be filled which have a narrow opening,such as the conventional bottle, or the like, the plugs l9 should bemade of yielding material, and expansible, so that they could enter andleave the bottle through same at the point of deepest engagement,

I claim: 1. In a machine of the character described, a

plug member comprising a cylindrical body having two longitudinalpassages therein, one a vent passage and one a liquid passage, valves atthe 2. In a machine of the character described, a

base comprising a base plate, a cylindrical housing and a central hubstructure, a vertical shaft supported in the hub structure, a column revolvable on the shaft and supported by the hub, an apron suspended fromthe column and encircling the hub structure, a pair of plates supportedin vertically spaced relation by the upper and lower. ends of the apronand having annular series of alined bearings therein, vertical shaftssupported in the latter bearings and having container supporting platesat the upper ends thereof and above the upper plate, a cam tracksupported inside the cylindrical housing, and rollers riding in the camtrack and connected to the,

vertical shafts for endwise moving the same when the pair of plates arerotated.

3. In a machine of the character described, a base comprising a baseplate, a cylindrical housing and a central hub structure, a verticalshaft supported in the hub structure, a column revolvable on the shaftand supported by the hub, an apron suspended from the column andencircling the hub structure, a pair of plates supported in verticallyspaced relation by the upper and lower ends of the apron and havingannular series of alined bearings therein, vertical shafts supported inthe latter bearings and having container supporting plates at the upperends thereof and above the upper plate, a cam track supported inside thecylindrical housing, and rollers riding on the cam track and connectedto' the vertical shafts for endwise moving the same when the pair ofplates are rotated, the lower one of the pairof plates having a ringgearthereon by means of which it may be rotated. H

4. In a machine of the character described, a base comprising a baseplate, a cylindrical housing and a central hub structure, a verticalshaft supported in the hub structure, a column revolvable on the shaftand supported by the hub, an apron suspended from the column andencircling the hub structure, a pair of plates supported in verticallyspaced relation by the upper and lower ends of the apron and havingannular series of alined bearings therein, vertical shafts supported inthe latter bearing and having container supporting plates at the upperend thereof and above the upper plate, a cam track supported inside thecylindrical housing, and rollers riding on the cam track and connectedto the vertical shafts for endwise moving the same when the pair ofplates are rotated, the container supporting plates having means forholding the same against rotary movement on their own axes.

5. In a machine of the character described, a base comprising a baseplate, a cylindrical housing and a central hub structure, a verticalshaft supported in the hub structure, a column revolvtheir restrictednecks and still entirely fill the able on the shaft and supported by thehub, an

apron suspended from the column and encircling the hub structure, a pairof plates supported in vertically spaced relation by the upper and lowerends of the apron and having annular series of alined bearings therein,vertical shafts supported in the latter bearings and having containersupporting plates at the upper ends thereof and above the upper plate, acam track supported inside the cylindrical housing, and rollers ridingon the cam track and connected to the vertical shafts for endwise movingthe same when the pair of plates are rotated, the container supportingplates having means for centering containers thereon.

6. In a machine of the character described, a column, means forrevolvably supporting the same, a plate supported by the columnhorizontally, an annular series of plug members supported vertically inthe margin of the plate, a passage in each plug, a valve for eachpassage having a stem projecting above the plug, a central liquid feedconduit over the column, a distributing head supported by the column andconnecting with the feed conduit and having radial arms connecting withthe passages, and means for actuating the projecting ends of the valvestems for valve opening and closing movements as the column is rotated.

7. In a machine of the character described, a column, means forrevolvably supporting the same, a plate supported by the columnhorizontally, an annular series of plu members supported vertically inthe margin of the plate, a passage in each plug, a valve for eachpassage having a stem projecting above the plug, a central liquid feedconduit over the column, a distributing head supported by the column andconnecting with the feed conduit and having radial arms connecting withthe passages, and means for actuating the projecting ends of the valvestems for valve opening and closing movements as the column is rotated,the latter means comprising spring means urging the valves closed, a camfor periodically opening the valves, means automatically locking thevalves in open position and means for periodically releasing the lockingmeans.

8. In a container filling machine of the character described, a plugadapted for telescoping engagement with the container, the plug having alengthwise vent passage and a lengthwise feed passage, with the passagesforming valve seats at the end of the plug, and valve rods movable inthe passage and having valve heads fitting on the said seats to comeflush with the end of the plug.

9. In a container filling machine of the character described, a plugadapted for telescoping engagement with the container, the plug having alengthwise passage and a valve in said passage, a valve rod projectingthrough the passage beyond the plug and having an arm extending from theprojecting end, a cam for raising the arm for opening the valve when theplug is moved with respect to the cam, means for locking the arm inraised position, means for releasing the arm after a predeterminedinterval, and means for urging the valve closed.

10. In a container filling machine of the character described, a plugadapted for telescoping engagement with the container, the plug having alengthwise passage forming a valve seat at the end thereof, and a valverod movable in the Dassage and having a valve head fitting on the saidseat to come flush with the end of the plug.

11. In a machine of the character described, a plug member comprising acylindrical body having two longitudinal passages therein, one a ventpassage and one a liquid passage, valves at the lower ends of thepassages having valve stems extending through the passages, and meanscooperating with the stems for periodically opening and closing thevalves in cyclic relation.

12. In a machine of the character described, a column, means forrevolvably supporting the same, a plate supported by the columnhorizontally, an annular series of plug members supported vertically inthe margin of the plate, a cam sealing sleeve movable upon the outsideof each plug, means carried by the plate for limiting the downwardmovement of the sleeve, and lever means anchored to the column andbearing on the sleeve and having yielding means opposing upward movementof the sleeve.

13. In a machine of the character described, a member adapted to supporta container thereon, a solid plug member of substantially the length ofthe container and having a sliding fit with the latter and having a ventpassage extending through the body thereof, means for supporting the twomembers with freedom of telescoping movement between the container andthe plug member, a sleeve retractable on the plug member and engageableby the container at the beginning of the telescoping movement forforming a seal between the plug member and the container, a valve at thebottom end of the vent passage and having a stem projecting through thepassage and above the plug and means acting on the stem above the plugfor opening the valve at the beginning of the telescoping movement andfor closing the same at the end of the telescoping movement.

EVERETT S. MINARD.

